Best roads in New England?

[taxonomy]

What are the best roads in your area? By this I mean tight curvy roads that you can have fun riding on without going 110 MPH, roads that have reasonably light traffic and low enforcement.

Tips on good cafes in the area or other things would be nice.

Around here RT 116 between Deerfield (Conyway really) and Ashfield is more or less essential to any ride. It's tight enough that you can have fun at reasonable pace. Enforcement can be tight but is usually limited to the "in town" sections of the route. The really curvy bits are much more lightly policed.

There's a new cafe/general store in Ashfield right on 116 that's good for breakfast and lunch with a nice porch, the Lake House is a classic but the food is lousy. There's a lot of great riding once you get to Ashfield as you're in the Berkshires by then.

In Huntington MA there's the interlocking sections of RT 66/112 and County Road. It's probably about 3 mile all around. There's a nice restaurant on the with a deck over looking the Westfield River that's OK as far as food goes but it's a great place to stop for the Deck. The Rapids restaurant is right at the intersection of 112 and 66.

Oddly, my favorite three curves are on the final approach to The Skinner House on the climb up from RT47 between Hadley and South Hadley. It's in the Skinner State park.

The road is well paved but more like a wide bike path than a proper road. There are three interlocking curves that would be hard to take at much more than 25 MPH. I think you'd be dragging hard parts on most bikes at that speed.

There is a ton of elevation change, radius change and direction change. It will hold your attention even at walking speeds. It's really hard not to throttle back because so much is happening. I can learn a lot from challenges like this at low, low speeds.

The view from the skinner house is great, truly spectacular. Priscilla and I have been running up there near sunset with a sandwich. Out of towners should stop by nearby Atkins Farm for a lunch in a great and interesting setting.

I hope to get inside tips on other places from this thread.

[MissTwisties]

I ride all those roads you mention, and have stopped many times in Atkins Farm, love their bar suhi and apple cider. I've been on Rte 47, just don't think I've ever been on top of Mount Skinner...will have to visit.

[spicy]

116 is my favorite, but i'm only going to be in the area for another 20days (graduating from UMass )

i'll be sure to come out and visit/hit the twisties, though


my favorite roads around here are 116N, 112, there's a cool road that goes up to rte 2 from rte 63 where it meets up with 47, as well


lots of good little twisties, too, but i don't know any of their names. river road off of 116 right by Mt. Sugarloaf is pretty good too, it meets up with rte 5 after like 5-6mi or so...

[ChR1s]

Hard Hat
26 Daly Ave
Dalton, MA

Near to where Rt8A/9 meet Rt8.

Great place to stop in for a pour of domestic brew whilst out tearing up Rt9, Rt91, etc. You know, all my favorite, bestest roads. If I can think of any more, I'll be sure to share.

Enjoy!

[RandyO]

New England.... my fav local (within a day ride ) twisites are not in new england

[MotoFreak]

VT Roads:
Spear St (Charlotte) to Vergennes Hollow Road to Tyler Bridge Rd
RT116 to RT 17 (Appalacian Gap)
Pleasant Valley Rd to 108
RT 73 (Brandon Gap)
RT 125 (Middlebury)
Rt 100S
Rt 5 (Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury)
RT 12S (From Morrisville)
Rt 15 (Underhill to St. Johnsbury)

Those are the main roads that offer a few hours of GREAT riding...there are others, but ya gotta do the "can't get there from here" type of ride to find em...Rubber Side Down ya'll!

Good Hunting!

we're hardcore up here, we don't stop to eat...

[Uncle Snake]

New England.... my fav local (within a day ride ) twisites are not in new england

[jtaylor719]

VT Roads:
Spear St (Charlotte) to Vergennes Hollow Road to Tyler Bridge Rd
RT116 to RT 17 (Appalacian Gap)
Pleasant Valley Rd to 108
RT 73 (Brandon Gap)
RT 125 (Middlebury)
Rt 100S
Rt 5 (Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury)
RT 12S (From Morrisville)
Rt 15 (Underhill to St. Johnsbury)

Those are the main roads that offer a few hours of GREAT riding...there are others, but ya gotta do the "can't get there from here" type of ride to find em...Rubber Side Down ya'll!

Good Hunting!

we're hardcore up here, we don't stop to eat...

What he said....best roads in NE are in VT....nuff said. NH has too much traffic, too many cops, too many double yellows. Maine is too far away. Western MA is OK, but VT kicks its ass.
I'm all about VT when I go on a group ride - and the routes shown above are basically the way to go.
Go RT 5 down to check out the BBQ at Curtis' blue bus too. Well worth the trip.

[slowrider]

Nothing in NE comes close to VT for me.

I'll throw in another complaint of NH, we must have some of the worst quality pavement in the Northeast.

I'll add in Rte 140 between East Wallingford and Wallingford as another fun road in VT.

[Jim]

Blue Hills. Great place to break clavicles

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

I would tell,


But I dont want my spots all blown up

[Pittenger5]

I would tell,


But I dont want my spots all blown up

Newbury St gets blown up every night from the bling crowd

[DucDave]

I don't know any...

[ChR1s]

I don't know any...

[MotoFreak]

I don't know any...

stop spending so much time at Track Days sniffin race fuel and smell some roadside flowers!!!

[GNTurbo6]

Me and a bunch of my friends rode up Skinner Park the other day. The view is truly amazing as you can see all the surrounding towns and even see Hartford (barely). The curves were a little challenging for me because I kept the bike in too high of a gear for some stupid reason.

There's a lot of nice roads in Agawam and when you dip into CT as well.

[bbhzx10]

There is this 1.6 mile stretch of road in Loudon NH!

[slapshotman7]

app gap is my fav

[slapshotman7]

app gap is my favorite in vermont

[jcbell1007]

Another nice ride in VT is the Notch Road that does from Stowe to Jeffersonville. 14 and 12 from Northfield to Randolph are pretty good, not to mention some of the roads around Jay Peak.

If you are looking for a nice cruising road, head up through the islands, RT 2 I believe.

[MotoFreak]

there are some GORGEOUS views off RT2 North up through N. and S. Hero.Grand Ilse area...go explore some of the side roads and you get some awesome views of the lake and NY...very nice, expecially on a day like today!

[markbvt]

VT Roads:
Spear St (Charlotte) to Vergennes Hollow Road to Tyler Bridge Rd
RT116 to RT 17 (Appalacian Gap)
Pleasant Valley Rd to 108
RT 73 (Brandon Gap)
RT 125 (Middlebury)
Rt 100S
Rt 5 (Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury)
RT 12S (From Morrisville)
Rt 15 (Underhill to St. Johnsbury)

Agreed... plus Rt 140 between East Wallingford and Poultney, Rt 110 between Barre and South Royalton, Bethel Mountain/Camp Brook Road between Bethel and Rochester (aka the Rochester Gap), Rt 73 between Brandon and Sudbury, East-West Rd/Depot Rd/Dover Rd/Dover Hill Rd between Putney and West Dover... and the Lincoln Gap road is a lot of fun on a dual-sport, but half of it is dirt so I don't recommend it for sportbikes.

Just outside of Vermont there are Rt 145 in northwestern NH, Rt 2 crossing over the MA/NY border, and of course T**** Rd and E*** P*** Rd, but technically those aren't in New England.

--mark

[RandyO]

of course T**** Rd and E*** P*** Rd, but technically those aren't in New England.

--mark

last summer, on a loop that included T**** Rd and E**P*** Rd, I found an even better road not far away ...... H***** Rd and dual sport road ....... J** Mtn Rd, yes that is my favorite riding area short of heading south

[spicy]

after roughly an hour worth of inputting points, lol


Google Maps


the creme de la creme of roads that i can remember out here. i'm graduating in 2 weeks, so i figured i'd chronicle my knowledge to pass the torch on to fellow UMass rider generations.

[onewheel]

Rt 62 has a small streach in Bolton about 2 miles of some S turns.. roll throught them at a good clip
And at the intrecetion of 495 and RT62 there is a road named Gates Pond rd. has about 1.5 miles of soome fun turns..